( 2 reviews )
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Posted: Jul 29 2007
NOTE: This is review is also in the context of setting up a CCSP/CCNP lab. Granted in a production environment, the plethora of integrated security features are nice, and if you have fewer than 20 systems on your network, then this little guy is exactly what you need. For a branch-office, its inline security design is ideal. Additonally it supports up to 5VPN tunnels, so admins should be able do whatever tasks are needed. However, if you plan on using this for a DMZ, I'd recommend you reconsider. This only has 128MB of DRAM, and isn't the fastest CPU either, so you -will- have latency on a heavily accessed webserver. If its an extranet for some business partners, I'm sure you can get away it, but this will NOT meet your needs for consumer traffic destined for eCommerce or email relay servers for large corporations. As far as setting up your own Cisco lab goes, this is by far the cheapest unit to support all the IOS features that must be mastered for CCNP's ISCW, and CCSP's SND and SNRS exams. Specifically: -CBAC -APPFW -DES/3DES IPSec VPN [primarly for site-to-site] -EZ VPN -IPS -WebVPN -SDM -AAA Additionally, it can be configured to interoperate w/ a Micro$oft CA; another plus as far as self-training goes. Not -that- common in Corporate America; however if you plan on deploying smart cards to a highly mobile IT team, it can be useful to know how to do this. NOTE: For the tests I used IOS 12.4(9), since the exams specificaly as you about attack-drop.sdf, 128.sdf, and 256.sdf. In newer versions of the IOS, they now use v5.x of the signature files, which is completely different format and no longer uses the predefined SDF files.
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( 1 of 3 found this review helpful ) Posted: Feb 6 2007
Router arrived defective from Tiger Direct. I asked to exchange the unit but customer service rep. (Nadeem Qamar) said "this is a discontinued item". This, despite the fact that Cisco still lists the product as being in production. Customer service rep. told me I could "upgrade" to Cisco 877 router instead, but 877 is incompatible with 871 and is a completely different router (ADSL instead of 10/100 base T). Customer service rep. then said I must return the unit within 15 days or I would not receive a refund. I explained to customer service rep. that we reconfigured our entire network and couldn't remove the router and needed a replacement first (the problem with the router was the flash memory wouldn't hold the configuration when the unit was powered off, so as long as the power was on everything was OK). After explaining this situation to customer service rep. and suggesting that I needed more time to return the unit because now I needed to find another supplier (since Tiger Direct decided to discontinue the product), customer service rep. said "NO" and 15 days was it. This was my first and last order from Tiger Direct. Why? - product was defective - they were unwilling to help me through a problem situation that THEY created because they discontinued the product - customer service rep. was poorly informed and gave out incorrect information -- suggested that 877 and 871 were compatible when they weren't. Here's a recommendation -- buy your Cisco products from Continental Resources, Inc. -- competitive prices, good customer service and the reps are quite knowledgable.
